• Conrad Miller ’49 (6/29/2016) – When Conrad joined us in July, 2010, he wished that “I had known about this organization before I became superannuated!” and when challenged for the secret handshake to prove that he graduated from USNA, “I’m a 1949 grad. How the hell can I remember my laundry number?” Conrad kept in close touch, letting us know how the others at his living facility were a bit “closed minded.”  Read more about Conrad at https://www.usna.com/custom/GiveRSS.ashx?type=single&newsID=3365
• Glen Davis ’76 (9/7/2016) – Glen joined USNA Out in 2008. Prior to his last move to San Diego, he was quite proud that had a table with his name on it at the famous Twin Peaks Bar in San Francisco, AKA “The Glass Coffin.” Glen was a varsity swimmer at USNA, and he shared his story participating in the Faces of USNA Out at https://usnaout.org/memoriam/glen-davis.  Read more about Glen at https://www.usna.com/custom/GiveRSS.ashx?type=single&newsID=3481
• Charles Wood ’42 (12/28/2016) – A life-long supporter of LGBT rights, Charlie was one of our first allies to join us. A resident of Spokane, Washington, upon retirement from the Navy, Charlie began a second career as an Episcopal priest. In the 1980s, Charlie and his wife, Ann, joined the Spokane Chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and helped found Integrity, an LGBTQ advocacy group of the Episcopal Church. In 1992, Charles was the first clergy member to testify in front of Congress in support of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military.  Read more about Charlie at https://www.usna.com/custom/GiveRSS.ashx?type=single&newsID=3775.
• David Lopez ’87 (6/7/2017) – David was a plank-owner member of USNA Out. He worked in the real estate business in Southern Florida.  Read more at David at https://www.usna.com/custom/GiveRSS.ashx?type=single&newsID=4260

All of these lost have been entered into the USNA Out memoriam.

Note: Suicide remains the number one cause of death amongst our members who have graduated less than 40 years ago.

At 50, Todd Park did not look like a man whose bone marrow teemed with 50% cancerous cells. He had no symptoms. Settled into a new job in his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah after a naval career and other post-military employment gave him a lifetime of moving, a simple blood test taken for a discount on health insurance led to an unexpected diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia. An avid writer, Todd blogged the raw physical, mental, and emotional experience of his treatment for this deadly disease. That blog became this posthumous memoir, Popcorn from the Void, fulfilling the commitment he made to write a book about his experience to help others struggling with leukemia.

Back cover Text: Popcorn from the Void is the raw and intense memoir of Todd Park’s 10-month leukemia treatment- from diagnosis to untimely death. Through wit and wisdom, he helps us to understand the arduous journey of a bone marrow transplant, what daily life is really like for blood cancer patients and their families, and is an example of how to live and die well: with courage, with dignity, and with unfailing hope in the face of incredible odds and powerful medicine.
“The struggle I fight truly is in my mind, so not only am I being weakened physically, I duke it out in ways that just can’t be seen with the eyes. I think that’s why people who survive a crisis of some sort tend to be different or transformed on the other end of their ordeal. Their minds got a major long-term workout, and you just know it when you meet one of these people. They have a presence about them that belies the personal hell they walked through. You know someone has been educated the same way. This is just the post-graduate level of the school of hard knocks. Cancer is definitely the PhD level, and I think it’s fair to say you’re reading my dissertation.”

Popcorn from the Void: Observations, Manic Kvetching, and the Raw Truth of Leukemia
By Todd Park
288 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1521532324
eBook $2.99/ Paperback $9.99 available in eBook and paperback format at Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/152153232X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1499695426&sr=8-2&keywords=popcorn+from+the+void

Todd is remembered in the USNA Out Memoriam